Saturday, May 13, 2006

One of the NPR podcasts I downloaded recently discussed a legendary (to most girls in my generation) toy, the Easy-Bake Oven. The story discussed the popularity of the item and that people who knew of them either: 1. Had one in their possession growing up. 2. Had Easy Bake "Envy"--always coveting the toy, but never owning one. I happened to fall under the second group of people. As a child, I skipped the fake oven and went straight to the real thing, I guess because my mom thought it was important that I really learn to cook/bake instead of just mixing powder and water together. Also, she had a policy of refusing to buy anything that might ruin the carpet in the house. Playdough was off limits, and I am sure she also envisioned cake mix encrusted in the fibers of the floor in our bedrooms. To this day, I am still very curious about the toy, amazed that a lightbulb can actually cook food. The podcast story introduces a chef who wrote a book filled with REAL recipes that were prepared in an Easy Bake. It's completely unpractical, but pretty fascinating! I am posting a page from the book.
Here's a link to the story:
The Easy-Bake Oven, Gourmet Style

1 comment:

Wingnutamy said...

cool. I had the envy. I also wanted, really really really wanted, the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine and the Cotton Candy Maker.

On a not-so-recent trip to Toys R, I found a whole AISLE dedicated to these semi-toylike things from the past...and at a price I could afford if I truly wanted to indulge my curiosity...